‘Interstellar’ Friday On Par With ‘Gravity’ In Opening Bow – International B.O.

1st UPDATE, Saturday, 11:38 AM: More international grosses are coming from Warner Bros. this AM for Interstellar’s Friday night estimates. Entering a weekend with little to zero competition, the sci-fi saga has — unsurprisingly — continued to dominate, grossing another $17M from what has now been upped to 14,600 screens in 62 markets. The total international cume is now $26.6M. Warner Bros. is handling the international release and Paramount the domestic release as the picture opens wide day and date around the world except for China and Japan (see below).

The studio reported that the Friday estimates for the Christopher Nolan-directed pic is on par with one of their other big sci-fi successes, Gravity, and points out that considering the significantly shorter running time of last year’s George Clooney, Sandra Bullock space pic plus the premium the latter earned from 3D, it is doing well. It should be noted that Gravity made over 61% of its total box office gross from overseas markets. In the end, it rallied with a total worldwide gross of $716.3M after a very solid $442.3M overseas run. The updates for the top markets for Interstellar are as follows:

Korea is still No. 1 with $2.6M on 1,270 screens for a total cume so far of $4.3M.

The UK opened to a strong $2.4M on 1,298 screens and is running 5% ahead of Gravity to take roughly 60% of the Top Five. Total cume right now is $2.6M (and that includes previews). This was the second biggest market for Gravity (behind China) as the final tally was $53.1M. Interstellar doesn’t bow in China until Nov. 12th.

Russia has a total cume after two days of $2.7M, having collected another $1.4M on 1,800 runs (good for 50% of the Top Five marketshare). Big Hero 6, which is besting Interstellar this weekend in the states to take the No. 1 spot, has been playing here for two weeks to take advantage of the school holidays.

Germany culled another $1.1M on 715 screens with 55% off the Top Five marketshare. The total cume after two days is $2.7M.

Spain opened about 45% ahead of Gravity, taking in $656k on 555 screens where it took the No. 1 spot after winning over a 38% share of the market.

France was good for $731k and 90k admissions from 747 screens after a lackluster opening. It cume is now $2M and it still has 50% of the marketshare there of the Top Five. This was the No. 3 market for Gravity, but Interstellar isn’t doing as well here, comparatively so far.

Australia grossed an estimated $768k from 548 screens for a 2-day total of $1.4m. The studio said the Friday result accounts for about a 50% share of the Top Five.

Italy cooked up $612k on 580 screens (or 39% share) for a total cume of $987k.

Mexico debuted a $602k take on 1,597 screens (39%) for a two-day total of $955k. Big Hero 6 moves into this market on Nov. 14.

And finally, Brazil has a two-day cume of $579K on 411 screens after taking in another $360K Friday.

More estimates will come in the AM with final grosses reported on Monday.

PREVIOUSLY, Friday, 10:30 AM: Interstellar went wide in 35 markets internationally with $8.7M yesterday and a two-day total so far of $9.7M, which logs it ahead of Gravity for the same set of territories, Warner Bros. said this morning. It is, not surprisingly, No. 1 in every market it opened in — not a shock given that all other pictures moved out of its way this weekend. Today, Interstellar blasts off in 22 more territories, including the major markets of the UK and Spain to tally a total of 62 countries and 13,000 screens. Of that count, 391 are IMAX. It doesn’t bow in China until Nov. 12th and won’t play in Japan until Nov. 22. Gravity’s biggest market was China with $70.6M, followed by the UK ($53.1M) and then France ($38.2M).

One of the biggest challenges for the new sci-fi film is the lengthy run time at nearly three hours long, which means theaters will have fewer screenings. So far, it doesn’t seem to be mattering, however.

The top markets so far for Interstellar are South Korea with $4.8M on 1,090 screens, which makes up a significant 72% of the Top Five marketshare; to give some perspective, Fox’s Gone Girl opened in Korea last weekend at No. 1 with $3.8M for the three-day. Another top market for the Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway-starrer was Germany with $687K, where it is playing on 717 screens for a 66% share of the Top Five and Russia. Interestingly, in Russia, Disney’s Big Hero 6 debuted a has been enjoying a nice run due to the two-week school holiday there and is already over $11M. Interstellar is now saddled alongside the animated film to pull in $1.3M on 1,800 screens or a 61% of the Top Five share.

Warner Bros. is very happy with the strength of the picture, considering the length of the Christopher Nolan-directed film and that Gravity both had the 3-D box office uptick and enjoyed an influx of ticket buyers from the fall school holidays in a number of markets.

In other major markets, Interstellar grossed $628K on 548 screens for a 61% share of the Top Five in Australia, while Italy saw $375K on 580 runs (41% share) and Mexico grabbed another $347K on 1,458 screens (or 43% share). Brazil, another major market, ended up with $236K on 411 screens for a 30% share of the Top Five. Big Hero 6 bows in Mexico on Nov. 14.

In its second day in France, Interstellar had a $538K haul on 65.7K admissions in 747 runs — that was good for 51% of the Top Five. The day-to-day drop is down 23% which Warner Bros. says its comfortable with given its a non-holiday and point to that the drop otherwise would be in the 40% range. The bow in France wasn’t impressive yesterday, as it was the No. 26 opener in the country this year.